Bovada sent along their MVP odds for the 2014 NFL season. Let’s break it down.

Peyton Manning 3/1
Drew Brees 11/2
Aaron Rodgers 15/2
Tom Brady 9/1

According to Bovada, the oldest skill position player in the NFL is an overwhelming favorite to win his sixth MVP award. If that were to happen, I don’t know how people could continue to put Tom Brady (or anyone, frankly) ahead of Manning on lists of all-time greats.

It’s surprising to see Brees ahead of Rodgers. Those two should be neck-and-neck for the second spot, well ahead of Brady, who has clearly declined late in his career. A healthy Rodgers, still in his prime, is probably Manning’s biggest challenger.

McCoy, Peterson and Johnson are almost unarguably the best two non-quarterbacks in the game, which is why they’re the only players who don’t play that position to make the top 15. No other non-QB has odds better than 50/1.

It’s a bit surprising to see Luck ahead of Newton and Wilson, both of whom have been better thus far in their respective careers. Bovada is banking on a breakout third season for the former top pick. And it’s also weird that Cutler and Stafford — who simply don’t feel like MVP candidates right now — are wedged in between Luck and those other young quarterbacks (including Griffin).

It’s amazing to see Foles listed ahead of Roethlisberger, Eli Manning and Rivers. And it’s also funny to see those three grouped together. Fellow first-round picks in 2004, they’re seemingly always linked. And of course Romo and Eli have identical odds.

Ryan and Foles are in the correct spots. They’re darkhorses who haven’t reached their prime. But I really can’t see anyone else winning the award beyond that.

Quarterbacks have won six of the last seven MVP awards. A receiver hasn’t won it, and a defensive player hasn’t won in more than a quarter century (Lawrence Taylor in 1986). Oh, and a rookie hasn’t won either. So from the list above, the only realistic longshots are Flacco, Dalton and Smith. I’d take Dalton from there.

About Brad Gagnon

Brad Gagnon has been passionate about both sports and mass media since he was in diapers -- a passion that won't die until he's in them again. Based in Toronto, he's worked as a national NFL blog editor at theScore.com, a producer and writer at theScore Television Network and a host, reporter and play-by-play voice at Rogers TV. His work has also appeared at CBSSports.com, Deadspin, FoxSports.com, The Guardian, The Hockey News and elsewhere at Comeback Media, but his day gig has him covering the NFL nationally for Bleacher Report.